Eruption Update for July 9, 2012: Nyiragongo and Etna Seen From Space

So, we made it back to Ohio only to find that the neutral line from the pole in front of our house is broken. Now, we wait for AEP Ohio to get someone to fix the line, which could be a few days to a week. So much for getting back to normal!

Anyway, I did want to post on some of the volcanic events and images from the past week, just to begin to get a sense of normality back into my existence (before I head off to California to do lab work … here goes!

Congo

Rob Simmon from the NASA Earth Observatory let me know about activity going on at the Congo’s Nyiragongo last week – surprisingly vigorous activity that seem to be producing plumes that reached upwards of 4.5 km / 16,000 feet. This is somewhat surprising activity for Nyiragongo as it normally produces lava flows and lava lakes rather than more explosive ash-laden plumes. There really isn’t any news I could find that details this new activity at the African volcano, however it is clear that it is producing SO2-rich plumes. My guess here is that the volcano might be seeing some very gas-rich magma erupting right now that is vigorously degassing at the summit, producing these plumes that are mostly water, CO2 and SO2 with a minor ash component. Hopefully more details will be forthcoming.

UPDATE JULY 9 2:15 PM: Just got this tweet from Rob Simmon: “Dario Tedesco sent this note: “I am sorry to say that there is no ash emitted from Nyiragongo volcano at all.””

A view of Etna in Italy seen on June 26, 2012. Image courtesy of the NASA Earth Observatory.

Italy

The NASA Earth Observatory also posted an excellent image of the flanks of Etna in Italy. The generations of lava flows are clearly seen snaking down the side of the volcano, slowly adding to the size of Etna. You can also see the line of craters that run across the summit of the volcano – only a few are active at a time, but suggest a complex magmatic plumbing system under Etna. The volcano seems to have settled down significantly after over a year’s worth of paroxysm. However, as the image shows (above), there is still plenty of degassing at Etna producing the thin plumes of volcanic gases and water vapor. I know many dedicated Eruptions readers hold out hope that Etna is rumble some more this year, so be sure to check the webcams for the volcano periodically.

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